'First world problem?' Augusta Road neighbors take street closure dispute to City Hall

The McPherson Lane barrier was meant to be a temporary measure to calm traffic but residents want it to be permanent. A construction worker moves it aside to perform work on a new development.(Photo: Eric Connor)

The yearlong dispute over the partial closure of a residential street in an affluent Augusta Road neighborhood carried its way to the top-floor of City Hall on Monday as neighbors split by the issue pleaded their case in packed chambers.

The potential closure of McPherson Lane has pitted neighbor against neighbor, a line of speakers told the Greenville City Council during a public hearing.

Legal action has been threatened. Claims of selfishness at the expense of the larger neighborhood. Name-calling. And the city repeatedly taking the blame for mishandling the whole affair.

“I have some neighbors who have thrown civility out the window," said Jamie Bach, who said she became involved in the effort to make McPherson Lane a one-way street when a developer proposed to renovate a shopping center 20 feet from her home.

"I have been called names," she told council members. "I’ve been yelled at in my own house, my husband and I have been threatened to be sued, and I’ve received accusatory letters and emails. What did I do to deserve this?”

The problem dates back to May 2017, when the city temporarily barricaded the lane on McPherson that leads into the neighborhood from the busy Augusta Street commercial corridor.

Residents across a broader section of the neighborhood said the efforts to make the closure permanent are selfish on the part of neighbors who benefit the most from it.

“There are those of us in the neighborhood who are prepared to take legal action to protect our property interests," said Caroline Avinger, who lives on East Lanneau Drive outside of a zone allowed to vote on the closure. "We really don’t want it to have to come to that, but it will if we’re not heard."

In all, 20 speakers stood at the podium among a crowd at least four times as large.

Burl Williams, who lives on Lanneau and opposes the one-way option, said the issue pales in comparison to other city growth and development impacts, such as those that force longtime residents out of their neighborhoods.

However, City Manager John Castile said the barrier was meant to be a "pilot project" and that the city "got in front of ourselves."

The city's public works director said in a public meeting that one-way streets are essentially a last resort to traffic calming.

The city informed residents later that the barrier was temporary and that other solutions would have to be found.

They then entered the city's traffic calming process that allows residents to vote on measures like speed humps. Last month, a collection of about 70 residences voted by more than a 75 percent margin to approve the one-way option.

However, neighbors on surrounding streets said they weren't included, even though rerouted traffic now affects their streets. They have asked the city to reject the one-way option and open the process up to a larger group of residents.

'Permanent block party'

“In over 100 neighborhoods, there’s never been a meeting like this," Mayor Knox White said, referring to the political efficiency of the city's traffic calming program that has been in place for 15 years.

The problem, at least at this magnitude, is an anomaly, he said.

Chris Hayes, who lives on McDaniel Avenue, said that the residents who favor a one-way street followed the process.

“If they want to change the process in the future, I understand," Hayes said. "We can’t go back in time. You're going to vote for safety, or you're going to vote for convenience.”

The section that would be closed to inbound traffic is small when considering the network of streets, said Charles Pulliam, who supports the one-way option.

Brian Garrison, who lives in the surrounding neighborhood and also owns a business in the Augusta Village shopping center, said that businesses haven't complained but stand to lose from streets that are less interconnected.

“This will establish a precedent by which any group of residents can close their neighborhood to inbound traffic," he said. "That’s just going to succeed, I think, in compounding the issue of growth and sprawl.”

Brandon Glenn, who lives on Lanneau and opposes impeding inbound traffic on McPherson, said that he walked his dog up the street to see how the barricade had affected traffic.

Glenn said he saw one car along the way.

“It was like walking in a field of daisies," he said. "It was like a permanent block party. Who wouldn’t want a permanent block party or a field of daisies?”